A New Age
by Schingiuire Vristalica
Summary: Captured by the American Government's Initiative, Spike finds himself as their latest and greatest weapon experiment. Spike, a master of manipulation, works to turn his new handler, a Riley Finn, against his own country.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Buffy or any of the characters.

**Author's Note**: My first Buffy fiction. I welcome any concrit to my writing style, but any deviation I make from canon is on purpose. Please, all reviews welcome.

Spike stepped up to the glass door of his cell watching a line of soldiers walk by leading their newest capture to an empty cell. The blinding lights which lit up each of the cells had dimmed allowing most creatures of the darkness here, including him, to relax just a bit. He stood close to the glass, predatory gaze watching the humans. One cracked a smile, punching a fellow in the arm. Spike shifted, getting as close to the glass as he dared to allow a better view of the men. He wanted to memorize their faces since their scents could not reach him within the cell. It was a bit of a ritual he had developed, learning the faces of all those who frequented by his cell.

Most were scientist types, with white coats, glasses, and clip boards. They would stop by certain cells, make notes, observe any kind of habit they might be looking for, then leave and continue on. Spike would pace while watching them, three steps from one side of the cell to the other then back again. He was a caged predator, like most of the other creatures here.

Every day, a few hours after the lights came back on, a woman would stand outside of his cell and watch him. Spike would pace for a few minutes, then stand before the door and watch her back. The fourth day she had done this, he had turned his back to her, retreating into a corner of his cell. At this deviation from his usual behavior, she had looked down to write a few notes. Once she looked away, Spike's eyes shifted into the golden yellow of his natural face, fangs extending as he lunged with a feral roar.

The woman had screamed, dropped her clipboard, and stumbled back to fall on her rump. Spike hissed, pacing before the electrified glass, face set in a savage grin. It was the same type of grin a wolf would give before ripping into a baby deer.

She had not returned since then, a new human, who was much less fun, had taken up her post the past two days.

Spike hissed, shaking his mind out of the past and directing his attention back to the group of human soldiers. After securing their latest capture they started walking back. Spike did not back away from the glass, settling a blue eyed gaze filled with hate upon them. The soldiers this place kept were used to his kind, demon kind. They would not be afraid, but that did not make Spike any friendlier toward them.

"Whoa, check this one out. I can just about see it mentally ripping you open, Riley."

The group paused in front of his door. Spike tilted his head, flecks of yellow dancing in his eyes as their attention settled on him. He was careful to not touch the glass as his nose wrinkled, pulling his lips slightly back from his teeth in a warning.

"This one hasn't been here very long," Riley stated. "I bagged it last week while it was stalking a girl." The amused tone of voice grated along Spike's nerves, though there was little he could do about it.

Spike curled his fingers into fists. If he had a soul, he would have sold it in an instant for the chance to take a swing at that guy. Riley seemed oblivious to the seething creature, turning his back on the cell with a smirk. He knew these monsters hated to see what they regarded as their prey behave so calm around them. To turn his back on a predator demon was one of the only things he could do with the glass between them that would send the creatures into rages.

"Professor Walsh is planning to test the control implant on this one after they've catalogued it. She thinks he might be older than the other vampires we've bagged."

"That'll be something to see," one of the other soldiers remarked, flicking his gaze to the silently fuming vampire in the cell.

Riley nodded. "We need something to present to Washington during the new budget proposal. The high cats there still think the Initiative is a waste of time. If the control implant works, we won't be a joke anymore."

Spike had no idea what they were talking about, though he listened because he was positive it had something to do with him. Tilting his head slightly, he listened to their conversation, never dropping the threatening body language.

Riley half turned, smiling at the vampire. "Don't worry, boy. You're about to become really valuable."

They continued on, leaving Spike to press as close to the glass as he could get, watching them disappear from his view. He had no idea what they had been talking about, but wondered if it would lead to him getting out of here.

"Wankers," he hissed under his breath, moving away from the glass and retreating to a corner at the back of the cell where he slid to sit on the too white floor and lean against the wall. He hated this place. Not only the mocking humans, but the cage he was kept in. Caught in light he couldn't hide from, fed twice a day with often drugged or strange tasting blood bags. He hungered for fresh human blood, straight from the vein.

Closing his eyes, he sighed, letting himself drift into a happy daydream which followed him stalking and killing Buffy as well as the prat Riley.


	2. Chapter 2

The sensation of being drugged wasn't one he was particularly fond of. He knew when they fed him that there was something off with the blood, a strange bitter taste that he could barely detect. Three times he had passed out a short time after eating. It gave him the odd sensation of having been violated, like they had given him date rape drugs.

Spike lay on the floor of his cell, back pressed against a wall as he rested on his side. They had done it again, poisoned his food with whatever chemical they used to knock out a demon. It couldn't be anything less than elephant tranquilizer. He watched the door with half lidded eyes, mind floating in a confused fog.

He was reminded of a show he'd seen on the telly, some kind of educational flic he'd only watched for the fun of seeing lions tear zebras to bits. Scientists had shot the lions with darts to drug them into docility. Spike fought to keep his eyes open, not wanting to allow the drug to win. Let the scientists come in to poke and prod at the lion. Maybe he could fight it off just long enough to tear the face off one of them.

Registering the soft beep of the door deactivating, Spike shifted his eyes to the glass, his senses responding sluggishly. Two men entered, while another two waited outside. One of them was a soldier, dressed in the typical garb of his station. Spike didn't move, his half lidded eyes watching them carefully. He wanted them to think he was completely out of it, to underestimate him and move closer.

"It's still awake," one of the men commented, staying by the door but crouching to get a better look of the vampire's face. "Get the stick and make a note to increase the dose given to this one for later."

One of the men outside the door vanished. Spike blinked slowly, still watching them. Any move he made now would be futile. They would take one step back and be through the door before he could even stand, and that is ignoring the fact he probably wouldn't be able to stay on his feet.

The man soon returned with a several foot long, thin rod of some sort. Spike moved then, using the wall behind him to steady his body as he managed to sit up, upper lip quivering as a low, feral growl rumbled in his throat.

"Stick him and get this over with. We need to keep to schedule," the soldier ordered.

"Tear our your bleeding hearts," Spike hissed out a slurred comment as one man advanced with the pole.

"Hold still," he mumbled, lunging.

Spike attempted to dodge, sliding to the floor, but the man's angle followed him. He didn't even notice the needle at the end of the pole, but he felt it sink into his neck. The thing had not even been pulled from the muscle before his eyes closed and mind completely fell into the confused fog.

OoOoO

Spike blinked slowly, attempting to shake away the sick weight that had settled over his body. The familiar bright white glare of his cell assaulted his eyes, sending a spear of pain through his skull. Groaning, the vampire snapped his eyes closed once more, rolling onto his back as he worked to take stock of his body.

Whatever the wankers had done to him they had wanted him solidly out. Spike lifted an arm to press the heel of a hand into his throbbing eyes. Forcing his eyes open against the light, he started to push himself up, but the attempt at such movement elevated the pounding in his head, sending his slightly focused vision into a spinning mess. Spike let out a half slurred growl as he slid back to the tile floor, teeth gritted against his weakness.

"Bloody wankers," he mumbled into the floor. "Don't even feel this bad drunk."

As the drug began to wear off, Spike slowly became more aware. Finally managing to sit up, tucking his legs beneath him. The first thing he noticed was his coat was missing. Twisting to look quickly about the cell, a motion which sent his head spinning once again, but he spotted the pile of discarded leather in a far corner. The corner was further than it should have been. Squinting his eyes against the light, Spike reached out, unsure if the coat was simply too far away or if his still drugged mind just perceived it as further away.

Stretching out over the floor, he realized the room was much larger. In fact it was large enough to actually call a room and not a tiny closet sized cell. Ignoring his coat for the moment, Spike rested on his knees as he looked slowly around the room, blinking against the bright light. The same three walls were the same, but the fourth wall was different. The room was more rectangle shaped than square, and one long wall was made almost entirely of a window. It was about three feet from the floor, giving him a good view of a dimly lit room, small, with a long table and a few computers.

Spike rubbed the side of his head with a hand, closing his eyes against the light as he waited. The drug was wearing off quickly now, and he braved standing. In a single, agile movement, the vampire stood. This time he didn't sway nor fall. His mind was clearing. Rolling his shoulders, Spike strode to the window, peering through it into the room. There were no humans inside so next he moved to the door.

"No handle," he mumbled to himself, reaching out to work his fingers into the seam of the door and the wall with little luck.

Pushing away from the wall, Spike started to pace in front of the window, wondering if it would be worth the shock to punch the glass. An angry voice in his head asked the question if this glass was even electrified at all. Baring blunted teeth, Spike approached the window, balled a fist, and slammed it into the glass.

Enough volts to even get a vampire's undivided attention coursed through his body on contact and sent him reeling back with a pained snarl. Clutching his hand to his chest, he looked up to the glass with wide, confused eyes as a light came on in the other room and several humans entered his view.

A middle aged woman in the usual lab coat all the scientists wore smiled at him. Tilting his head forward, Spike peeled his lips back. These people treated his kind like animals. Which to be fair, they were in a sense. Just like humans were animals. Demons were an entirely different class of animal.

The humans all cast him a glance, each moving to a computer station while one soldier hung behind the woman. Spike pegged her as the leader of this group as she leaned forward and seemed to do something on the table before the window.

"Good afternoon, Seventeen," her voice entered the room loud and slightly altered by the speakers.

Spike bared his teeth to her, his eyes snapping to the small speakers within the wall beside the window where he had not noticed them earlier.

"Piss off," he snapped back, bristling at the lot of them.

She seemed to not even hear him, either actually being unable to which he doubted, or just completely ignoring his reply all together.

The woman turned away from him to look at another of the white coats. As she spoke he could still hear her through the speakers though her words were not directed at him.

"What's the chip status?" Her voice and tone were all business.

"I'm still waiting for the full boot up, but so far everything appears to be working perfectly, Dr. Walsh."

What the hell were they talking about? Whatever it was, the woman nodded her understanding then looked back to the table she stood at, shuffling through a few items before looking back up to him.

"Do you feel any pain or uncomfortable sensations, Seventeen?"

Spike approached the glass then, throwing up two fingers in a British insult. "My bleeding name is Spike, and yeah, you can turn out the damned lights. That's a bloody uncomfortable sensation," he replied in a bitter, mocking tone as he strode back and forth before the window.

"Boot up finished, Dr. Walsh," the earlier scientist announced.

While the woman's smile had faltered a bit, she turned away from the irate vampire to look over a computer monitor with a nod.

"Laceration and skull incision should have healed by now. Our boy is all ready for testing," Dr. Walsh stated, turning back to the window and looking on as the vampire fumed. "I want a low level pain stimulation with a two second duration."

Spike backed away from the glass, eyes shifting as he waited for something to spring out at him. From the way the humans talked, something was about to happen, and he didn't particularly like the sound of 'pain stimulation.'

"Activating now," the other scientist announced from the computer. All human eyes locked on him. Here it was, if something was going to spring out at him, it'd be now. Several seconds ticked by, the vampire poised on edge before Walsh let out an exasperated sigh.

"Something in the programming must have failed," she commented.

Spike allowed himself to relax, a smirk playing on his lips. So something had gone wrong. His thought was interrupted as a sharp tingle sparked to life in his head. Hissing, he pressed a hand to his temple, shaking his head several times in attempted to clear it. The sharp stinging sensation spread through his skull and seemed to light a fire of sparks down his spine which spread along the nerve trails through his body.

The sensation was annoying enough to be uncomfortable, and the humans noted his reaction with eagerness.

"I was worried for a moment we had installed a dud," Walsh commented with a chuckle as the vampire shook off the last traces of the tingle.

"What the bloody hell did you wankers do?" Spike growled, looking up to the window with a bit of worry.

As before, the humans ignored him. Walsh smiled faintly once more, keeping her eyes locked on the vampire while she addressed the man at the computer. "Second test. Increased low level pain stimulus, let's try level four, five second duration."


	3. Chapter 3

Pain shot through his body, following every nerve trail It touched. Spike grit his teeth, face shifting into his demon visage against his control as he writhed in agony. Just as suddenly as it had started, it was over, leaving the vampire shuddering in a half curled position on the too white floor. Everything still hurt, burning from the touch of whatever these humans had done to him. His head pounded and it was all he could do to not beat it against the floor to make the headache stop.

Walsh watched the creature recover from the latest test, a slight smirk decorating her face. "Still a few bugs to work out, but overall the control implant is a success."

Riley stepped up beside her, his eyes likewise on the vampire as it picked itself up to press its palms against the side of its head. Riley thought he could hear an animalistic whimper through the intercom. Reaching over, he flipped the switch to cut communication between the rooms.

"Do you think this thing can be trained? I read the report on this one. The doctors think it's an alpha."

Walsh half turned, raising an eyebrow at him. "That is precisely why I wanted this one as our primary control chip test subject. Seventeen is much older than any other vampire we have at our disposal, and probably the oldest we've captured so far. He will be able to pull through testing that would kill lesser vampires."

She looked away from the soldier, her golden boy and second in command. "Shut down the chip. I want a patch for the errors we encountered tonight ready by Monday. Have Seventeen fed and brought back to the medical lab for documentation of any injuries he may have developed from the chip functions."

Riley followed her as she left the observation room, wanting to continue their conversation. "I have a feeling that vampire will be more difficult to train than you believe. I've watched him, he doesn't cower in his cell like the others. He paces, watching and waiting."

The walk toward her office took them through the cells. Twin rows on either side of small, lit rooms with glass doors, each holding a demonic occupant lined the hallway.

"I have faith in your abilities, Agent Finn."

Her response caught him off guard. Riley half paused, then quickened his steps to catch up with her. "I don't understand, Commander. My abilities?"

Walsh nodded, half turning her head to smile at him as she reached her office. "I am assigning you to be Seventeen's trainer and handler. You will be in charge of preparing him for presentation."

Riley blinked again, shaking his head as he shifted his stance, standing at attention before her. "If I may speak freely, Commander." He paused, and at her nod, continued. "I do not feel I am the best qualified for that task. I am more comfortable hunting and bagging the creatures, not taming and making pets out of them."

"We are not making pets out of them," Walsh corrected, pushing open her office door. "You will be training it to follow commands. We want weapons, Agent Finn, not pets."

She deemed the conversation over, closing the door between them and leaving Riley to stand, arms clasped behind his back, as he absorbed this new information. His commander told him Seventeen was most likely an alpha, stronger, smarter, faster, and she wanted him to train this creature. Turning from her office, the soldier felt he should check on his new charge. If Walsh felt he had the ability to control this creature, he would put his entire force into it. He would not fail.

OoOoO

The woman had left, but her team remained, all talking among themselves about whatever they had just done to him. He couldn't hear through the speakers anymore, though he really didn't care. Spike had backed to a far corner, rubbing at his head and pressing his back against the wall as if the pressure would be enough to rub away the uncomfortable tingling that was slowly fading from his body. The vampire crouched, snatching up his coat from where it had been discarded upon the floor, sliding it onto his shoulders. It was almost a blanket of comfort, his second skin restored.

A familiar beep broke the silence of his new cage, announcing the entrance of a blood bag as it dropped from it's port in the ceiling. Spike didn't even look up, a dark growl vibrating his chest as he rubbed at his head, feeling a bit comforted by the creak of leather. The phantom pain had faded by now, but their ability to hurt him without getting close was unnerving. He'd never encountered a spell like this before.

"Drink up, Seventeen," a familiar voice, and one he certainly did not care to hear at the moment, commanded.

Spike raised his head, looking across the room to the same soldier who had claimed to capture him, the same man who mocked him only a few days ago, standing behind the glass of the control room.

Advancing, the vampire let his lips turn up in a bit of a smirk, yellow flecks dancing in his eyes as his natural urges fought to take control. "Sorry, mate. I'm not really in the mood to pass out again. I just woke up, ya see."

Riley smirked, standing straight, his hands clasped behind his back. "There are other ways," he commented. "Much less conformable ways."

"Yeah," Spike chuckled, his eyes widening a bit. "But ya see, those ways require one of you wankers walking in here. That's a bag of blood I could really go for."

Riley couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. These creatures really were animals. It was thinking entirely with it's teeth, acting like it could so easily take on the armed men who would enter to subdue it. This vampire was on par with a junkyard dog. A man with an assault rifle steps into it's turf and it couldn't see past the fact there was an intruder there. No planning, no intelligence. Just aggression and hunger.

Understanding this creature's basic instincts, what drove it and made it tick, that would be the key to bringing it to heel. For a moment, Riley wished the chip had not been shut down. A good spark of pain would most likely curb the creature's flippant attitude. However, he could only smirk, twisting a dial on the table to dim the lights of the observation cell. Perhaps if the vampire was more comfortable, it would give in to drink. It would certainly make things much easier.

This creature had no idea where it was or what was happening. As he'd read in the file, this one was a suspected alpha, a pack leader, which typically tended to be the eldest male. Riley wasn't sure how they had come to this conclusion, given the creature had not interacted with any of the other demons here, but he could only trust their judgement.

Riley had a feeling nothing would be easy with Seventeen.


End file.
